Feeder and oscillating agitator



1,551,810 E. R. DRAVER FEEDER AND OSCILLA'IING AGITATOR Filed April 1, 1925 muli-lm Patented Sept. l, 1925.v

PATENT- oFFicE..

'man'. n. nRAvIm, or RICHMOND, INDIANA.

FEEDER AND OSCILLATING AQITATR. Y

Application-med April 1, 1925. serial No, 19,827.

' To all whom it may concer/n:

Be it known that I, EMIL R. DRAVER, a citizen o f the United States, residing at Richmond, in `the county of Wayne an'd State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeders and Oscillating Agitators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will-enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a feeding ydevice adapted to feed fine, comminuted or granular material. It has been common to lfeed such material for various purposes' from a hopper having `a feed opening and which was provided with a movable gate for regu- Y lating the size of said opening. Thev material is sometimes fedby gravity from the hopper and sometimes fed to a moving mem# ber adjacent the feed opening. It has been found that certain materials tend to clog in the feed, 'opening and donot feed uniformly therethrough. n

It is an object of this inventiomtherefore,

ltoA `rovide,a htpper having a feed opening and) a member or regulating the size there- "L of, together with movable meansdisposed I provide aI hopper havinlg adjacent said feed opening for facilitating the feed thereof.

It is a further object of the invention to a feed opening and agate for regulating t e size of said opening, which gate comprises a reciirocating member` extendingfacross the fee opening Afor effecting uniform feed.\

It is another object of the invention tof provide a hopper having a feed opening and a gate for regulating the size of said opening comprising va member disposed in oradjacentV the opening and extending transversely 'thereof, whichmember carries means projecting into the hopper along the sides thereof,ltogether with `means for reciprocating said member.

It is a further object of the invention to rprovide a hopper having. a feed o ning and for a movable member beneaththe opper openreceivin the dmaterial from said fee a gate4 for regulating sai hop r havin I ingthe size ofxsaid feeopenin comprising` a member extending across sai feed `open ing transversal of the flow ofmaterial, 'and means operated, mentioned member for operating said last mentioned member. u

is 'ournaled a shaft 12 ren by a movement of said firstv These and other objects-'and i advantages of the invention will be full set forth in the following description Vma e in connection with the accompanying drawings in `which like reference characters refer to the -same partsthroughout the different views, and in which,

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of the device, a portion thereof being shown in vertlcal sectlon;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in central vertical section; andk Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3-.3 of Fig. 2, as indicated by the arrows.

- Referring to the drawings, a hopper 4 is shown which may be of any desired size and -shape, but which, in the embodiment of the nally by a collar 7 pinned to one end thereof and-,by a p'ulley 7a secured to its other end outward of the bearing 5. The front portion of the hopper 4 is cutaway or omitted, as shown at 4, to form a feed opening and a member 8 constituting a gate is slidable verticallyat the front of said hopper to regulate the size of opening 4". AThe gate 8 is provided with a slot 8* through which extends, a headed bolt 9 projecting from the front side of hopper 4 and which is equipped with a washer and a thumb or wing nut 10. The nut 1Q can be loosened and the gate 8 adjusted, after which the gate can again be held in desired position by tightening nut 10. The gate 8 has a bearing bracket 11 secured thereto adjacent one side in which s of bearing 11 and having secured to one enda short arm 13 and having secured to itsother and outer end a longer arm 14. The gate also carries'adjacent its lower edge a pair of brackets 15 dlsposed, respectively,

at each side thereof. A shaft 16 is secured in brackets 15 and extends therebetween, and a member 17 is provided havin arms 17* and 17? projecting'therefrom, sai arms being apertured and journaled on shaft 16.

While the member 17 may have various projecting at the 4 forms, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated, the same is shown as plate-like in formation slightly curved and said member has projecting from its rear side, means in the form'of a pair of fingers 17.wh1ch project into the hopper 4 and areY dlsposed adjacent .the'side walls thereof. The gate 8 also carries at its inside bottom edge a pate 8b projecting below the upper inside edge of member 17. The arm 17b has a short eX- tension projecting outwardly in front of shaft lfapertured to receive the lower-end of a link 18, the upper end of whlch 1s pivotally connected to the outer end of arm 13 which is apertured to receive the same. The link 18 is shown as a round rod bent at right angles at its ends to extend in opposite directions, said ends passing, respectively, through the arms 13 and 17 b and belng held in place by suitable means such as the cotter pins 1,9 shown. Disposed below the hopper 4 is a movable member 20. While this member may be of various forms, in the embodlment of the invention illustrated, the same is shown as a trough or chute of rectangular sha e. Said member 20 is supported by flexlble straps or springs 21 secured at their lower ends to brackets 22 attached to the sides of member 20 and at their upper ends to bracket 23 attached to the sides of hopper 4. The member 20 is adapted to be moved or reciprocated and 'while various instrumentalities might be used for this purpose, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated, said member is shownlas having a bracket- 24 secured lto its under side substantially centrally thereof having spaced downwardly extending arms between which is disposed an eccentric 25 secured to and driven by the shaft 6. The member 4 also has adjacent its rear end at one side thereof an upstanding bracket 26 in which is pivotally secured the rear end of a link 27 extendlng along one side of hopper 4 and pivotally secured at its other end to the lower end of arm 14. The link 27 is alsoA shown as a round rod bent in opposite directions at its'ends substantially at right angles, said ends, respectively, passing through the bracket 26 and arms 14 and held therein by suitable means, such ascotter ins 28.

In operation, material will e supplied to hop. er 4 and power will be applied to pulley hrough a suitable belt. Eccentric 25 will thus be operated and a longitudinal swinging or rec1procating motion will be given to the member 20. Material will feed from hopper 4 downwardly through open- -ing 4a and alon the bottom. of'member 20. As member 20 1s reciprocated, motion will be transmitted thereby through 'the link 27 to the arm A14, thence through arm 13 to link 18. Said link 18 will reciprocate or oscillatethe member 17 on shaft 16. The

member'17, as clearly shown, is disposed in or adjacent the feed opening 4*" and willl effectively prevent any clogging of the material. working over or spilling over the top of member 17. The material tends to clog most adjacent the sides of hopper 4 and for this purpose the fingers 17c are provided` which move close to said sides. The action of these fingers will keep the material from clogging, or being retarded at the sides of the hopper so that feed of material will be uniform throughout the entire extent of the feed opening. It will be noted that the member 17 really comprises a portion of the feed gate and it will also be noted that the feed gate 8 can be raised and lowered, as desired, without interference with the action of the member 17.

From the above description it is seen that applicant has provided a very simple and eflicient device for maintaining a uniform feed 'of material through a feed opening. The device is quite simple and can readily be applied to practically all hoppers having a feed o ening and a movable member operating adjacent thereto. The device comprises few parts and requires practically no attention for maintenance. A battery of feeders embod ing the present invention can be arrange tofrether andthe means for controlling the s1ze of the feed opening regulated as disclosed in applicants prior patent granted December 30, 1924, No. 1,521,014.

It will, of course be understood that` various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and roportions of the parts without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which, generally stated, consists ina device capable of carrying out the objects above set forth, such as shown and described and defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for feeding ineor granular material having in combination, a hop er having a discharge opening and a mem er movable to adjust the size of said opening, comprising a driven reciprocating member extending into said opening for facilitating the iow of said material. l

2. A device for feeding fine. or granular. material having in combination, a hop er having a discharge opening, and a mem er movable to adjust the sizeof said opening carrying a driven oscillating member for causing a uniform feed of material through said feed opening.

3. A device for feedingfne or granular fmaterial having in combination, a hopper .means forl 'reciprocating said last mentioned member, and means projecting from said jacent the sides thereof.

`last mentioned member into said hopper ad- The plate 8b prevents the material 4. A' feeding device for fine or granular material having in combination, a hopper having a discharge opening, means for re lating the size of said opening, a mem er movable beneath said hopper, means for reciprocating said member, a member extending transversely of and into said discharge opening, and means connected to said first mentioned member for reciprocating said last 'mentioned member to cause a uniform feed of material through said feed opening. 5. A device `for feeding line or granular material having in combination, alIOpperv having a discharge opening, means for regulating the size of said opening, a member extending across said feed opening transversely of the flow of material, means for re ciprocating said last mentioned member, and

fingers extending from said, last mentioned member and projecting into said hopper along the sides thereof.

6. A. feeding .device for fine or granular material having in combination, a hopper having a discharge opening, means for regulating the size ofsaid opening, a reciproeating member closely adjacent the bottom of sald ho per for causing the feed of material therefiom, a member disposed between saidy means and said reciprocating member and in said discharge opening, and means 1igor reciprocating said last mentioned mem- 7. A feeding device comprising aY hopper lhaving an open bottom, la reciprocatln trough closely adjacent said bottom, sai hopper having one side out away at its lower movable alon said side for adjusting the sizeof said discharge opening, a member disposed in and extending across said discharge opening, and means for positively reyportion to form a discharge opening, a gate ciprocating sald last mentioned member to facilitate vthe feed of material through said discharge opening.

In testimony w ereof I afiix my signature.

' p -EMIL R. DRAVER. 

